A teacher of mine used to say 'there is no money in poetry, but then again there is no poetry in money'. One of the possible meanings of this idea, is that those who are driven by profit cannot appreciate the things which offer no financial incentive. Creativity loses its purity when it is used as a means to trick people into handing over their money. Money, one could argue, transforms art into a pretty way of lying.
There are few industries more fascinating with regard to this idea than advertising. It is a business which is fuelled, and indeed judges success, by money... yet there is more creativity on display in some advertisement than one sees in a lot of supposedly 'pure' art.
As my Year 8 class have been discovering, advertisers are having to constantly reinvent themselves. The ultimate message is almost always the same - 'give me your money'. This is true even with charity advertisements which supposedly are manipulating us on the side of good. The way that advertisers do this has to be reinvented with every advert however. There is nothing most people would less like to do than part with their hard-earned cash, especially if they have the slightest suspicion that they are being tricked... which is why the art of advertisement is so subtle.
If you want to advertise shaving gel to men, you have to hide where they are most likely to bump into you - in the pages of men's magazine, in the posters of the men's changing room at a gym, in the ad-break at half-time of a football match. And you have to think of crafty ways to appeal to this audience once you have their attention... you have to do something that nobody else has ever done before every time you start a new advertising campaign.
Your assignment - to be handed in at the start of next week is a choice between two possible tasks...
Option 1
Design an advert for the product of your choice. It can be anything... a new Jacqueline Wilson book, a new type of shoe, a chocolate bar, or whatever you want.
If you choose this option, I want to see the following things:
1. A small sample of what the advertisement would look like. This can be as detailed as you want, so long as it is tidy and gives me an idea of what the advert would look like.
2. A short piece of writing explaining the thought-process behind this advertisement... it must include the following information:
What is the product?
Who is your target audience?
How have you managed to appeal to this target audience?
What other advertisements did you look at for ideas on how to advertise this product? In what ways were they useful?
What is there about your advertisement which is different from anything else on the market?
How have you used typography in your design? (font-size, text-positioning, etc.)
Where do you think this advertisement would appear?
How have you used the principals of advertising? (newness, nostalgia, happiness, etc.)
Your piece of writing should be around 3 quarters of a side of A4.
Option 2
Find an advertisement that you think is very effective. It could be one from the top of this blog entry or it could be one that you find elsewhere on the internet.
Write a short analytical piece of writing explaining:
Why do you think this advertisement is successful?
What techniques has the advertiser used to make their product appealing?
What is the target audience?
How has the advertiser appealed to this target audience?
How has the advertiser used typography?
What types of images are used in the advertisement?
This should be around 3 quarters of a side of A4 and include a copy of the original advertisement.
Good Luck
There are few industries more fascinating with regard to this idea than advertising. It is a business which is fuelled, and indeed judges success, by money... yet there is more creativity on display in some advertisement than one sees in a lot of supposedly 'pure' art.
As my Year 8 class have been discovering, advertisers are having to constantly reinvent themselves. The ultimate message is almost always the same - 'give me your money'. This is true even with charity advertisements which supposedly are manipulating us on the side of good. The way that advertisers do this has to be reinvented with every advert however. There is nothing most people would less like to do than part with their hard-earned cash, especially if they have the slightest suspicion that they are being tricked... which is why the art of advertisement is so subtle.
If you want to advertise shaving gel to men, you have to hide where they are most likely to bump into you - in the pages of men's magazine, in the posters of the men's changing room at a gym, in the ad-break at half-time of a football match. And you have to think of crafty ways to appeal to this audience once you have their attention... you have to do something that nobody else has ever done before every time you start a new advertising campaign.
Your assignment - to be handed in at the start of next week is a choice between two possible tasks...
Option 1
Design an advert for the product of your choice. It can be anything... a new Jacqueline Wilson book, a new type of shoe, a chocolate bar, or whatever you want.
If you choose this option, I want to see the following things:
1. A small sample of what the advertisement would look like. This can be as detailed as you want, so long as it is tidy and gives me an idea of what the advert would look like.
2. A short piece of writing explaining the thought-process behind this advertisement... it must include the following information:
What is the product?
Who is your target audience?
How have you managed to appeal to this target audience?
What other advertisements did you look at for ideas on how to advertise this product? In what ways were they useful?
What is there about your advertisement which is different from anything else on the market?
How have you used typography in your design? (font-size, text-positioning, etc.)
Where do you think this advertisement would appear?
How have you used the principals of advertising? (newness, nostalgia, happiness, etc.)
Your piece of writing should be around 3 quarters of a side of A4.
Option 2
Find an advertisement that you think is very effective. It could be one from the top of this blog entry or it could be one that you find elsewhere on the internet.
Write a short analytical piece of writing explaining:
Why do you think this advertisement is successful?
What techniques has the advertiser used to make their product appealing?
What is the target audience?
How has the advertiser appealed to this target audience?
How has the advertiser used typography?
What types of images are used in the advertisement?
This should be around 3 quarters of a side of A4 and include a copy of the original advertisement.
Good Luck
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